diff --git a/reset.c b/reset.c
index 315fef91d3..3e7b9e2e13 100644
--- a/reset.c
+++ b/reset.c
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ int reset_head(struct repository *r, struct object_id *oid, const char *action,
 	unpack_tree_opts.merge = 1;
 	unpack_tree_opts.preserve_ignored = 0; /* FIXME: !overwrite_ignore */
 	init_checkout_metadata(&unpack_tree_opts.meta, switch_to_branch, oid, NULL);
-	if (!detach_head)
+	if (reset_hard)
 		unpack_tree_opts.reset = UNPACK_RESET_PROTECT_UNTRACKED;
 
 	if (repo_read_index_unmerged(r) < 0) {
diff --git a/t/t5403-post-checkout-hook.sh b/t/t5403-post-checkout-hook.sh
index 17ab518f26..fd2817b406 100755
--- a/t/t5403-post-checkout-hook.sh
+++ b/t/t5403-post-checkout-hook.sh
@@ -85,6 +85,16 @@ test_rebase () {
 		test_cmp_rev three $new &&
 		test $flag = 1
 	'
+
+	test_expect_success "rebase $args checkout does not remove untracked files" '
+		test_when_finished "test_might_fail git rebase --abort" &&
+		git update-ref refs/heads/rebase-fast-forward three &&
+		git checkout two &&
+		echo untracked >three.t &&
+		test_when_finished "rm three.t" &&
+		test_must_fail git rebase $args HEAD rebase-fast-forward 2>err &&
+		grep "untracked working tree files would be overwritten by checkout" err
+'
 }
 
 test_rebase --apply &&